Now Masdar builds solar with a 75% capacity factor, almost as much as nuclear Masdar, the holistic and progressive renewable energy company from the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi, and SENER, a leading engineering and construction firm in Spain have formed a joint venture, Torresol Energy, that just inaugurated their Gemasolar Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project; the first commercial plant […]
When an oil-rich Sheikdom crowns an official building with grid-connected solar panels, it’s time for the U.S. to wake up! After Obama’s failure to return Jimmy Carter’s solar panels to the White House roof, the court of HH Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan – the ruler of one of the world’s most oil-rich […]
The Masdar buildings that have been realized are impressive, but they comprise a shadow of the original, grandiose plans Everybody loves to criticize the Abu Dhabi state-owned energy company Masdar, which has been forced to eat humble pie on numerous occasions for failing to realize the grandiose zero carbon, zero emissions city promised to the […]
A one-year investigation by researchers will hopefully reveal what incentives are most likely to encourage energy and water conservation among Masdar’s student body. There’s nothing sinister about it really. Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is aiming for carbon neutrality in an unforgivingly hot and dry environment teeming with young students. Naturally these twenty-somethings – among […]
Oil and gas companies believe that CCS will allow fossil-burning to continue unabated, but health leaders expose the potential for widespread human fatalities in the event of accidental leaks. The United States Department of Energy has pledged to match Masdar’s $700,000 carbon capture research program with $3 Million of US taxpayer money. In collaboration with […]
Gulf conservation groups have teamed up with National Geographic Al Arabiya to showcase 100 stunning images of Arabian species The Gulf countries of the Middle East may be more famous for their outlandish construction projects, endless deserts and malls than their biodiversity but one art exhibition is hoping to change all that. A large coalition […]
There’s a lot of buzz about overfishing, but navigating what is sustainable to eat is not so easy in the Middle East, where we don’t have such well-established research institutes as the Monterey Bay Institute in California. Luckily, we do have the WWF-EWS in the United Arab Emirates, which has been doing an excellent job […]
Since 2007, land dedicated to organic greenhouse farming across the United Arab Emirates has increased by 15 percent Despite some debate over the carbon-footprint of locally grown food when using desalinated water, it is widely accepted that growing your own food locally is better and greener than shipping it in from all corners of the […]
In a moment of unabashed self-aggrandizement, Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan from Abu Dhabi commissioned beach graffiti visible from space. We have nothing against Sheikhs per se. A member of Ajman’s royal family, HRH Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Al Nuami, also known as the Green Sheikh (who knows how to treat a lady), has […]
As Masdar’s partnership program gains traction in the London Thames estuary, the company is mooting wind power back home – in Abu Dhabi. Masdar is on target to complete the world’s largest offshore wind farm in London’s Thames estuary by the end of 2012. In partnership with the Danish firm Dong Energy and E. ON […]
A 1770 hectare site between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is set to get a green makeover. After long consultations between residents, prominent community members, and the Abu Dhabi municipality, the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) has unveiled the Shahama and Bahia Revitilization Master Plan. A 1770 hectare site between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which […]
Abu Dhabi’s Corniche has become the Arabian Gulf’s first Blue Flag beach The city of Abu Dhabi has become the first Arabian Gulf location to gain a Blue Flag environmental award for one of its beaches. The certification has been awarded to the famous Abu Dhabi Corniche, a four mile stretch of coastline which is […]
The fastest animal on earth is found limping, badly injured, through the heavily-trafficked streets of Abu Dhabi in the UAE. There are few sights more beautiful than a majestic cheetah in the wild. And few more upsetting than that same creature injured and limping through the streets of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. […]
The Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Center is promoting technology that can potentially set Abu Dhabi farmers free from water constraints. Abu Dhabi farmers may be able to grow food with water pulled out of dense air. With just four days back up supply of water, and desalination projects usurping considerable energy, Abu Dhabi is facing […]
At the end of her tour, Tafline gushes about her latest presentations at Al Ittihad school for boys in Abu Dhabi. My whirlwind tour through Dubai has come to an end. The Masdar City images posted from my first visit were viewed by 30,000 people around the world, I saw sharks carelessly dumped in the […]